Mark Andrew Henderson

Leila Irene Mason, James Mason’s only daughter, and sister to Nelson Mason was born Thursday, February 15, 1883, at Dalton, Berkshire County, Massachusetts. She attended school in Cleveland, Council Bluffs and Omaha, and was graduated in Nurse’s training in the Nebraska City. She practiced her profession there and in Los Angeles. Following a number of years in California, she returned to Omaha and was married to Raymond Oliver Frederick Henderson. To this union there were born five sons and a daughter:

Paul David, Dec. 4, 1916 (died 2006)
King Elisha, Dec. 22, 1918 (My Father, died 2006)
Mark Andrew, August 24, 1920 (died 2009)
Eleanor Adams, born Dec. 6, 1921
Ralph Lewis, born Feb. 23, 1925 (died 1977)
William Raymond, born February 5, 1927, (Killed in action in 1945, during WWII, at Epinal, France)

Mark Henderson

Mark speaks with much bitterness about his father Raymond, who he described as a “lazy no-good lay-about,” a religious freak who turned his back on his wife and children and mooched off his brother Victor for most of his life. Raymond worked as a night watchman for the Adams & Kelly Lumber Co., a company that Mark says is still there today (2001).

In old age, Raymond Oliver moved to Minnesota to live because they paid the highest state pension. Mark recalls his father’s extraordinary efforts to avoid work. At a time when the standard was a ten-hour, six-day work week, his father decided he was too good to work on Saturdays, and later extended his work limitations to include sundown on Fridays.
He fondly recollects his uncle Nelson, an attorney in Bismarck North Dakota, who would pick up Marks mother Leila and the kids in his Model “T” on weekends and treat them to a day away from father Ray, who Leila’s brother detested. According to Mark, his mother Leila was always writing to her brother Nelson, and Mark perceived them as being very close. Nelson was always trying to convince his sister Leila to quit having more children and was always trying to help relieve their poverty with donations and whatever else he could afford. Eventually, because he had a wife and two children of his own to take care of, and because Leila continued to have more and more children, he became frustrated and unable to continue his charity.
Mark was eight years old in 1928 when he and his brothers King and Paul were put on a train and shipped to Eureka South Dakota. There, because of an advertisement in the flyer of the “7th day church of God,” three separate families of the church, who were referred to as “saints,” offered to take the children in and care for them. Paul went home with the “Schrenk” (a Russian name according to Paul) family, King went with Adam and Rose Straub, and Mark had the misfortune of being selected by Emanual Straub and his wife Albina. Mark tells of a miserable two years with the Straubs, where he was whipped with a rope, locked out in freezing weather, kicked in the stomach while shivering on the floor, and physically thrown around causing him to suffer many cuts and bruises. During this time, he said that he was only able to see his brothers on two occasions. Eventually, one of the seasonal workers on the annual harvest crew noticed Marks injuries and threatened to expose Emanual Straub’s cruelty to the authorities, whereupon the Straubs loaded Mark into an automobile and transported him back to Omaha and dumped him off.
Mark was ten by now and was able to find his way back to his old neighborhood and the house he used to live in near 17th or 18th, and Burt Street. He asked the neighbors if the Hendersons still lived there, and they reported that the father Raymond did. Mark waited until late afternoon for his father to return. When he did return, he said “Mark, is that you.” “Yes it is” replied Mark. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with you” is the comment Mark recalls his dad making.
It was not long before mark was turned over to the Nebraska State Home for Dependent Children in Lincoln Nebraska. He spent the next four years being shuffled between there and the County Masonic Home (even though no members of his family were masons). He speaks of occasional visits to see his Uncle Oscar (scuff) Henderson, a man who Mark remembers with much fondness. Mark describes Uncle Oscar as one of the nicest, most wonderful persons he has ever know. Mark says it was wonderful to get away from the institution for a day or two and live with a real family, and it gave him a feeling of belonging.
By now, it was 1932, the depression was in full swing, the infamous “Dust Bowl” was ravaging much of the Midwest, and Mark was 12 years old. He had only completed the 5th grade in school, which was quite a surprise to the school officials when Mark enrolled. Mark remembers the school principal offering to enroll him in the 7th grade to save him the embarrassment of being “downstairs” with the little kids, but he also let Mark know that it would be his responsibility to exert the extra effort necessary to catch up. Mark was touched by this gesture of not putting him with the little kids. For one of the very few times in his life he realized he was with someone who actually cared about his feelings.
At some point, Mark took a test for graduation to High School, and was told by one of the school matrons that he had done poorly on the exam and that it would be better for him to pursue a vocation rather than to continue is education. She held Mark back and refused to allow him access to further education, until one day, Mark walked the seven miles to the state capitol where he intended to see the governor. Although the governor was not in that day, Mark noticed, by chance, the office of the State Superintendent of Schools, and waited several hours for him to return. While waiting, Mark related his dilemma to a secretary who then related the story to the Superintendent when he arrived. Mark asked the Superintendent to allow him to further his education, whereupon the Superintendent requisitioned Marks school records and found out that he had not only passed the graduation examination, but that he had scored very high. The Superintendent then called the matron who had been lying to Mark about his achievements, and “called her on the carpet” for what she had done. Mark does not relate the final outcome of that meeting, but he was allowed to enter High School, where he excelled at many sports. Because of his Height (over six feet) and years of work on the Straub farm, he was strong and broke the school record for the javelin throw as a freshman. As a freshman, he was rarely beaten in the 12 lb. shot-put event, and he was third best in the State of Nebraska as a Junior. As a Senior in High School, he took second place out of all the High Schools in Nebraska. When Mark was in his senior year in High School, he was taken in by the Havens family, who had heard about his athletic talents.

The Havens’ took Mark in for a year, a year that Mark describes as heaven on earth. Apparently, with the Havens’, he was exposed to another side of life, a side of better living standards, better acquaintances, better food and better clothing. The wealthy Havens family had inspired Mark to want better for himself, and based on his academic prowess, Mark earned acceptance into the University of Nebraska. Mark remembers his counselor was S. C. Blood. Marks financial resources did not allow him to remain at the University for long, and he soon borrowed $40 from a friend and headed for California.
Shortly after arriving in California, Mark enlisted in the military and joined his brother King who had just returned from Hawaii and re-enlisted. Brother Paul was still on his first tour of duty in Hawaii at this time, but was soon to join them at McClelland AFB. Mark was in California now and was surprised to learn that the Straub family (Emanual and his wife Albina) who had abused him so many years before, had also relocated to California. He paid a visit to them one night with the intention of doing both of them bodily harm, but was saved that experience by the intervention of his brother King. He wanted them to know what it felt like to be kicked in the stomach and whipped.
Mark was not in the military very long when he was noticed by one of his commanders, who told him that he should apply for Officers Training School (OTS). Mark impressed the selection board with letters of recommendation from the Mayor of Lincoln Nebraska, and one of Nebraska’s State Senators, and with the help of his Uncle Nelson, and Nelson’s son-in-law Al Pilson, he was soon on his way to becoming a Captain in the military. He recalls his time at OTS fondly, and relates that he graduated in the top ten percent of his class.

In the fall of 1940, he was stationed at Stockton, where he met and on Sept. 3, 1941, married Mabel Bateman of Sacramento, a native of Oklahoma.

Mark was stationed for a time at Pendleton, Oregon, and it was at that station that he was chosen for officers training at Camp Lee, near Petersburg, Virginia. Following completion of that course Mark was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant.
Soon thereafter he was stationed at Rapid City, S. D. and twice was sent with a fleet of trucks to Bismarck to pick up essential equipment stored there by the defunct Worker’s Progress Administration. On the second trip Mabel accompanied him. Soon after being sent to England, he met his brother, King, and later Ralph. Mark was at Omaha Beach the day after D-Day, and had the responsibility for taking care of all those killed in action during that fateful assault. While stationed in France, he was promoted to the rank of 1st Lieutenant, in charge of trucks incidental to aviation. Mark and Mabel’s first child, Mark Andrew, Jr., was born Dec. 2, 1943 in Pittsburg, CA, and their second child William George on the 13th of September, 1946 in Berkely, CA. They made their first home in Concord California.
It was many years before Mark completed his education, but before he was finished he added the University of California at Berkley to his long list of credits. Mark has been a lifelong student and was 44 years old when he completed his formal education, in 1964.

Mark was a licensed pilot and loved to fly his own small aircraft. He made his career in the Real Estate and financial markets before he passed away on May 4th, 2009 in Auburn, CA.